Israel deports EU Parliament aide after 8-hour airport interrogation

Detention at Ben Gurion

Manus Carlisle, press officer for The Left group in the European Parliament, said Israeli authorities detained him for approximately eight hours at Ben Gurion International Airport before deporting him, citing his political activism and previous travel to the occupied West Bank. Carlisle and his partner were traveling to participate in the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank through the Fa3za campaign when they were flagged for questioning upon arrival at Tel Aviv's airport.

"We were traveling really in kind of a solidarity with those communities," Carlisle told Anadolu in an exclusive interview, adding that they had anticipated difficulties but were nevertheless shocked by the intensity of the interrogation. Israeli officials demonstrated detailed knowledge of their political activities and social media presence during three rounds of questioning that grew increasingly confrontational, he said.

'You hate Israel'

"They (Israeli officials) didn't like the Irish passport, and they didn't like that I had spent time in Bethlehem before. Eventually, we were told that they knew every demonstration we had ever been on, and every social media post we had ever made," Carlisle said. The final round was conducted by Israeli security services, who explicitly accused the couple of hostility toward Israel before transferring them to a deportation holding area. "It was not so friendly anymore. I was told, in their words, 'We know who you are. We know what you do. We know all of your internet activity. We know that you've been to demonstrations. We know that you hate Israel.' So, that was made very clear to us that we were just not going to be allowed in, that we were going to be denied Israel entry, in their words, because we hate Israel," he said.

Call for EU action

Carlisle noted that the atmosphere at Ben Gurion had changed considerably since his last visit before 2023, with authorities appearing increasingly suspicious of international travelers seeking to witness conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories. "They've become a lot more paranoid, a lot more insular. They don't want to see internationals coming because they see them as a threat," he said, suggesting the timing was particularly concerning given ongoing military operations in Hebron, where more than 2,600 Palestinians have been displaced amid recent raids. He called on European governments to implement the EU Blocking Statute and reassess the EU-Israel Association Agreement, stating: "I think the EU and European politicians have looked the other way for far too long, and we need to step up."